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Published: July 12th 2006
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After leaving Punakaiki we bombed on to Glacier country. On the West Coast of New Zealand there are two huge glaciers: Franz Joseph and Fox. Compared to other glaciers in the world these ones really motor, they can move upto six metres a day which is a collosal amount in glacier terms (so i've heard), indeed there have been days when the Cookmeister would struggle to move 6 metres in a day! The drive from Punakaiki was absolutely amazing for scenery (just like everywhere in New Zealand we've seen). It seems that Aslan is on the move because we saw hundreds of sheep walking along the side of a mountain away from the icy hills towards the green ones! I managed to make Dan believe that there are more sheep in New Zeland than people in Europe (Much like the time i got him to believe that you could see Frnace from the top of Blackpool Tower on a clear day!)
Our first stop was Franz Josef Glacier, a small town with a huge galcier by it. After a quick walk through a forest and a bit of a hike through a valley we were at the foot of Franz
Josef Glacier. It was Huge, a block of ice that ran in a valley between two mountains. We didn't stop too long admiring it though due to the fact it was pouring it down with rain. After seeing Franz Josef we drove another 10kms to Fox Glacier where we checked into another hostel which was purely belter (The hostels in New Zealand have been amazing so far). It was getting pretty late by the time we checked in so i settled down in the TV room to watch a film. It was a New Zealand film called "Once were Warriors" and was absolutely amazing, a cult classic- you should definitely try and watch it, it was a bit violent at times mind.
The next day we were woken up nice and early by Dan's annoying alarm on his mobile phone cos we had to get ready for our Glacier walk which we had booked. After getting kitted out in warm clothes and boots we had a bus ride to a place near the foot of Fox Glacier. Here our guide led us for an hours trek through some forest before we arrived at the foot of the Glacier. We
had to fit crampons to the bottom of our boots to enable us to dig our feet into the ice we were about to walk on and prevent us from slipping. Our first few steps on the glacier itself felt a bit hairy, there were a few cravasses in the ice we were walking on that wouldn't have been great to fall down. We managed to keep our balance, except Dan who took a few tumbles- nothing too serious though. Trekking through the glacier was absolutely amazing. We were surrounded by ice walls and we had to go through ice tunnels at certain stages and step over gaps in the ice. The ice had a blue colour to it (there was a scientific reason to this, something to do with refraction of light i think?) which made it look extra cool.
It wasn't actually that cold on the Glacier, and people who had about five layers on soon regretted their decision. When we reached the top (not actually the top, but as far as we were going) there was a ice tunnel which we were able to slide down on our backsides, Dan just made it through (not I
a bit of Blue
For the dads. might add, until he'd made everyone aware of his presence by "letting one go") After this we had to head back down, seemed to take ages. All in all we were on the ice for nearing five hours, so we got our moneys worth- first decent bit of exercise we'd done in ages aswell.
We were all pretty knackered that night, but were awoken at 4.30am by a fire alarm?!? Was a false alarm, but reminded me of the ones at Tapoton that tended to go off every couple of months. We were up for real an hour later to watch the World Cup Final- I'd had money on both Italy and France from the start of the tournament but wanted the Frenchies to win cos it would have proved more profitable and also because I wanted Zidane to have a good send off. Italy won on pens and, as you know, it wasn't the best night for Zizou- what was he playing at?!?!
We left Fox Glacier behind and, after a thwarted attempt to see some seals, ended up at Lake Hawea (Haway the lads!). I'm getting even more repetitive than usual now, but the views were
Pocket of Water
One false step. once again awesome. It was lateish when we arrived at our accomodation, a Motor lodge overlooking the Lake with the snowtopped mountains surrounding it, so we just had a few casual ones in the bar before heading to bed. The next day Will, Dan and Bully went for ski lessons whilst me and Jonny visited the nearby town of Wanaka for a look around. After visitiing Wanaka we went for a round of golf, the course itself was ok but it was the surrounding scenery that made it look special. Needles to say Jonny beat me by about 40 shots, but i was happy with a few of my drives and i managed to get a Par (An achievement for me) by chipping in from 10 yards off the green- if only I didn't need at least 4 putts on every hole i'd be F"@$!% dangerous!
Today we've just arrived in Queenstown, the Extreme Sports Capital of NZ: Me Jonny and Dan have just booked to do a bungy jump for Friday so we're all bit excited/5hitting ourselves at the mo!
Thats all from me,
Mike
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Mary
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From the Geordie connection
Hi, your mam gave me your website, enjoying reading your journals and photos are great. Hope you are still in one piece from the bungy jump!! Was at Roger and Clares last week end, John and Janine were their as well and were telling us all about their trip to New Zealand a couple of months ago, they absolutely loved it. Have a great time and take care. Mary